Saturday Morning Meal Planning

Had a big talk at work the other day about whether I want to pursue promotion to senior counsel and/or partner, which has prompted a great deal of thought on my part. I’m developing a list of questions, questions for them and Big Life Questions for myself. It’s an interesting time in my career – and just generally, life. I am being positioned for promotion, and I think at this time it’s something I want, but I guess I’m sort of afraid of what it would mean – what changes it would bring to my life, and if the good would outweigh the bad. So I need to understand what those changes would be, and then have a good hard talk with myself (and my spouse) about whether it’s something I should shoot for. I never thought I would get here, for a lot of reasons – partly because I am a female and a mother, and the statistics are absolutely not in my favor. Only 18 percent of partners in Big Law are women, and anecdotally I know that many of them did not have children (notably, there are more women than men in law school now, and incoming associates are about 50/50, but we still drop out as time goes on). And partly because I do value downtime, and I have lots of hobbies, and I prioritize family – and these are things that aren’t easily compatible with law firm life, so there has always been a tension there. I’ve always had an expectation that I would do my time and then leave. Now I’m interrogating why that expectation was there.

So, watch this space, I guess. Meanwhile, back to the humdrum of daily life . . . meals for the week.

• Pork chops and farro. We never had the pork chops last week. We did have the farro, which was tasty, but there’s tons left. I can make a mushroom gravy for the pork chops and it’ll be a delicious pairing.
• BBQ chicken breasts and broccoli cheese rice. We did have the broccoli cheese rice last week – same deal, there’s tons left so we’ll use it as a side with some BBQ chicken breasts.
• Chicken pot pie. Rotisserie chicken, jarred gravy, frozed mixed veg, Bisquick topping. Easy. Yummy.
• Korean beef bibimbap. My brother recommended this one!
• Parmesan barley bowls. I’ll modify this – skip the egg for the boys (who aren’t fans of eggs), maybe throw some leftover chicken on top.
• Salmon and new potatoes. I just brush olive oil and salt and pepper on the salmon and bake it til done. Easy and simple, but the fish is so good it doesn’t take much.